UMS Concert Program, September 22, 1987: International Presentations Of Music & Dance -- Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Season: 109th
Concert: Third
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
LEONARD BERNSTEIN Conductor
Christa Ludwig, Mezzo-soprano
Tuesday Evening, September 22, 1987, at 8:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201............................. Mozart
Allegro moderato
Andante
Menuetto
Allegro con spirito
Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah".................................. Bernstein
Part 1 Prophecy: largamcntc
Part II Profanation: vivace con brio
Part III Lamentation: lento
Christa Ludwig, Soloist
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82........................... Sibelius
Molto moderato; allegro moderato ma poco a poco strctto Andante mosso, quasi allegretto Allegro molto
Angel, Arabesque, CBS, Desto, Deutsche Grammophon, London, Pathe, Philips, Seraphim, Van?guard, and VoxTurnabout Records.
The University Musical Society expresses thanks to Ford Motor Company Fund for its generosity in underwriting the production and printing costs of this program.
Cameras and recording devices are not allowed in the auditorium. Hall's Cough Tablets, courtesy of Warner-Lambert Company, arc available in the lobby.
Third Concert of the 109th Season Special Concert
PROGRAM NOTES
Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201......... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
The Symphony in A major was written for the small court orchestra in Salzburg in the spring of MIA. The young Mozart, only eighteen, took as his model a symphony in the same key by Michael Haydn (1737-1806), Joseph Haydn's younger brother and Mozart's colleague on the musical staff of the Archbishop of Salzburg.
This symphony is universally regarded as Mozart's first truly great symphony. With its chamber music texture, the use of counterpoint, the great rhythmic vitality, and beauty of melody, it was a milestone in Mozart's development as a symphonist. The orchestral resources arc modest: pairs of oboes and horns with the usual complement of strings.
This high-spirited yet serious symphony is in four movements: a delicate Allegro moderate; a sober Andante with muted strings; a Menuetto with an unusual dotted rhythm; and a final Allegro con spirilo in a free-swinging meter. Throughout the symphony the strings arc predominant; the other instruments simply fill in the harmony and reinforce the orchestral sound.
Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah"......................... Leonard Bernstein
{b. 1918) Program Note by Leonard Bernstein, from New York Philharmonic Notes, March 29, 1944.
In the summer of 1939 I made a sketch fora Lamentation for soprano and orchestra. This sketch lay forgotten for two years, until in the spring of 1942 when I began a first movement ofa symphony. 1 then realized that this new movement, and the scherzo that I planned to follow it, made logical concomitants with the Lamentation. Thus the symphony came into being, with the Lamentation greatly changed, and the soprano supplanted by a mezzo-soprano. The work was finished on 31 December 1942, and is dedicated to my father.
The symphony docs not make use to any great extent of actual Hebrew thematic material. . . . As for programmatic meanings, the intention is again not one of literalness, but of emotional quality. Thus the first movement, Prophecy, aims only to parallel in feeling the intensity of the prophet's pleas with his people; and the scherzo, Profanation, to give a general sense of the destruction and chaos brought on by the pagan corruption within the priesthood and the people. The third movement, Lamentation, being a setting of poetic text, is naturally a more literary conception. It is the cry of Jeremiah, as he mourns his beloved Jerusalem, ruined, pillaged, and dishonored after his desperate efforts to save it. The text is from the book of Lamentations.
The Lamentations of Jeremiah Chapter I, 1-3:
How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!
How is she become a widow!
She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces,
How is she become tributary!
She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks;
She hath none to comfort her among all her lovers;
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her.
They are become her enemies.
Judah is gone into exile because of affliction,
And because of great servitude;
She dwclleth among the nations, she findcth no rest.
All her pursuers overtook her within the narrow passes.
Chapter I, 8:
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned . . .
How doth the city sit solitary ... a widow.
Chapter IV, 14-15:
They wander as blind men in the streets, They are polluted with blood. So that men cannot touch their garments. Depart, ye unclean! they cried unto them, Depart, depart! touch us not . . .
Chapter V, 20-21:
Wherefore dost Thou forget us forever, And forsake us so long time . . . Turn Thou us into Thee, O Lord . . .
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82......................Jean Sibelius
(1865-1957)
Sibelius began his Fifth Symphony during the First World War and revised it several times. The first version was played to celebrate the composer's fiftieth birthday; the following year a new version was performed at Helsingfors; and its third and final form was presented on November 24, 1919. Sibelius repeatedly objected to the assignment of stories to his symphonies, and when he conducted the first London performance of his Fifth Symphony, he had the following notice inserted in the program: "The composer desires his work to be regarded as absolute music, having no direct poetic basis."
Although this symphony is divided into three parts, the first is made up of two well-defined movements: an opening Molto moderate joined without pause to what is actually the scherzo of the work. Though they are different in mood and character, these two movements arc linked by a common theme which is concise and simple. The motive is announced by the horn over a roll of the timpani. Its first four notes form the thematic material upon which most of the two connected movements is based. The principal theme of the scherzo section, presented in thirds by the wood?winds, is in dancelike rhythm. The tempo increases gradually throughout, and the movement ends in a brilliant climax for the full orchestra.
The slow movement consists of a rather naive theme and a set of variations which are simple in character. Although there are occasional dissonances, the general atmosphere is quiet and gentle.
The finale is the crown of the work and is, in many ways, the most nobly imagined and nobly eloquent of all of Sibelius' compositions. The opening theme is quite overpowered by the second theme, based on a slow, oscillating motion which first appears in a very tentative form in the strings and horns. It is this second theme which is developed to a great climax near the triumphant ending.
About the Artists
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was founded 145 years ago when the "Personnel of the Imperial Court Theatre " gave their first concert on March 28, 1842, under the direction of Otto Nicolai. Prior to that time, the orchestras of Vienna were either amateur groups or private orchestras to the aristocracy. At first, concerts of the new group were intermittent, but in 1860 a regular season of eight concerts was launched, and in 1877 the Vienna Philharmonic's first tour took place -to neighboring Salzburg, the city which has since become the orchestra's second home. In 1898 Gustav Mahler became principal conductor of the orchestra, and two years later he led it on its first tour abroad -to the Paris Exposition of 1900. Since then, the Vienna Philharmonic has toured through?out the world, performing under the batons of such distinguished conductors as Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith, Sir Georg Solti, Karl Bohm, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, and Lorin Maazcl.
Leonard Bernstein, who first conducted the orchestra in 1968, has developed a special relation?ship with the Vienna Philharmonic players and is distinguished as the only living conductor to be named an honorary member of their ranks. With them he has recorded a number of albums, as well as the celebrated "Bernstein's Beethoven" television series. He led the Vienna Philharmonic on tours to the United States in 1979 and 1984, the latter year including two concerts in Ann Arbor. Bernstein is leading the players during the September 14 to 26 segment of the current tour, after conducting them in several concerts in the European cities of Salzburg, Vienna, Frankfurt, and Lucerne.
The Vienna Philharmonic is the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and is annually in residence at the Salzburg Festival, in addition to extensive concert engagements in Vienna and around the world. It has had only three permanent conductors: Otto Dessoff (1860-1874), Hans Richter (1874-1898), and Gustav Mahler (1898-1901). Richard Wagner, Anton Bruckner, Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, and Wilhelm Furtwanglcr have all guest-conducted.
The orchestra has always been known as one of the world's few orchestral collectives. All the administrative tasks of the group arc performed by the musicians, elected to their posts by their colleagues. All decisions concerning repertoire and conductors (there is currently no resident conductor) are made by plebiscite, and all performance fees are divided evenly among the musicians.
On the occasion of conductor Bruno Walter's reunion with the Vienna Philharmonic after World War II, he described the special sound of the orchestra: "This Philharmonic tone, which for me dates from 1897, is still the same today, even though not a single player from those days is still in the orchestra. What is it One might call it tradition. Musical culture is expressed there in a particular form. Thus sounds Vienna."
Leonard Bernstein is the only American musician ever to achieve worldwide recognition as conductor, composer, pianist, author, and teacher. As a composer, he has created works over a wide-range of forms and styles. Among them are three symphonies (Jeremiah, Age of Anxiety, Kaddiscli), three ballets (Fancy Free, Facsimile, The Dybbuk), Chichestcr Psalms for chorus and orchestra, the score for the film On the Waterfront, the operas Trouble in Tahiti and A Quiet Place, and for the Broadway theater On the Town, Wonderfiil Town, Candide, and, of course, West Side Story. His Mass, a Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers, opened the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 1971 and ten years later became the first work by an American-born composer to be produced at the Vienna State Opera. His Jubilee Games received its world premiere last fall with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer's baton, in celebration of the orchestra's fiftieth
anniversary. Festivals of Mr. Bernstein's compositions have been presented in Israel and Austria, at Aniherst, Kansas City, Cleveland, Orange County (California), Milwaukee, and in London, the latter presented by the London Symphony Orchestra in cooperation with the Barbican Centre, the largest of its kind honoring a living musician. Moreover, Bernstein was named honorary president of the London Symphony Orchestra. Last year Paris saluted him, when Franqois Mitterand named him Cotnmandeurde la Legion d'Honneur.
October 1982 saw the premiere at the New York City Opera of the new opera house version of Candide. In June 1983 the Houston Grand Opera presented the world premiere of A Quiet Place; a revised version had its European premiere at Milan's La Scala in June 1984 and its American premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington the following month. A Quiet Place was performed in April 1986 at the Vienna State Opera, where it was recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and televised. New productions of the opera followed in Germany and the Netherlands.
Mr. Bernstein is the author of the best-selling books The Joy of Music, Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts, The Infinite Variety of Music, and Findings. In 1972-73 he was Charles Elliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard; the six lectures he gave there were televised in the United States and Europe, published in book form by Harvard University Press and translated into seventeen foreign languages. He is the subject of a recently published biography, Bernstein, by Joan Peyser.
In February 1985, Mr. Bernstein was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. A ten-time Emmy Award winner, his "Young People's Concerts" with the New York Philharmonic extended over fourteen seasons. In recent years he has been seen regularly on PBS's "Great Performances" series and, with the Vienna Philharmonic, appeared on PBS and cable television in the eleven-part series "Bernstein's Beethoven." Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic have received a number of Gold Records, as well as the CBS International Crystal Globe Award.
His many other awards include the National Fellowship Award in 1958 for his life-long support of human rights and, also in 1958, the Gold Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the nation's highest cultural organization to which he was elected in 1981. Last April he received the Albert Schweitzer Music Award "for a life's work dedicated to music and devoted to humanity."
Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1918, Leonard Bernstein grew up in Boston, graduated from Harvard University in 1939, and continued his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Fritz Reiner, Randall Thompson, and Isabella Vengcrova. Summers were spent at Tangle-wood, as student and assistant to Serge Kousscvitzky. Engaged by Arthur Rodzinski as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1943, he made his remarkable, now historic, debut with that orchestra on November 14 of that year, replacing Bruno Walter in a nationally broadcast concert. In the years following, Mr. Bernstein served as music director of the New York City Symphony, was head of the conducting faculty at the Berkshire Music Center and professor of music at Brandcis University, and guest-conducted most of the world's major orchestras. In addition, he has conducted at the Metropolitan, the Vienna State Opera, and was the first American to conduct at La Scala.
Mr. Bernstein became music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958 and has been an honorary member and its conductor laureate since 1969. During this long and distinguished associa?tion they made over 200 recordings for CBS Mastcrworks and Deutsche Grammophon. Last December Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic were reunited for a performance of his new work Opening Prayer at the gala rc-opening of Carnegie Hall.
A singer of international renown, Christa Ludwig continues her long artistic association with Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic with this performance. Acclaimed for her artistry in the most demanding operatic roles and as a liedcr singer "par excellence," Miss Ludwig appears regularly with the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as the Berlin Philharmonic and the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. She is also a frequent guest at the world's great festivals.
In the United States last season, Miss Ludwig appeared in four performances of Mahler's Second Symphony with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic and gave a sold-out recital at Avcry Fisher Hall with pianist James Lcvinc. Her current season in this country includes a return to the New York Philharmonic and Mr. Bernstein for Mahler's Third Symphony and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa for Strauss's Elektra in concert, both in Boston and at New York's Carnegie Hall.
Born in Berlin to musical parents -both were singers at Vienna's Volksopcr -Christa Ludwig made her own operatic debut at age nineteen as Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus at the Frankfurt Opera and, after appearing in a number of major European houses, joined the Vienna State Opera in 1955. Her collaboration with Leonard Bernstein began in 1969 on the 100th anniversary of the Vienna State Opera Housi:, when she appeared under his direction in Beethoven's Mijsii Solemnis. On the celebration of Maestro Bernstein's 60th birthday in 1978, she sang with the National Symphony in a gala program telecast by satellite throughout the world, and in a Brahms liedcr recital shown nationally on PBS's "Great Performances" series with Mr. Bernstein at the piano.
Since her American operatic debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in The Marriage of Figaro, Miss Ludwig has returned to that stage for a variety of roles -in Elektra, Les Troyens, Der Rosenkavalicr, Werther, and Die Frau ohnc Schalten, as well as several Wagnerian roles.
Her discography includes a large repertoire of operatic roles, lieder, and works for voice and orchestra on a number of labels including Angel, CBS Masterworks, Deutsche Grammophon, London, and RCA.
VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Cotuertniasters Gerhart Hetzcl Raincr Kiichl Erich Binder Werner Hink
First Violins Raincr Honeck Anton Straka Eckhard Seifert Hubert Kroisamer Josef Hell Georg Bedry Alfred Staar Alfred Welt Herbert Schmid Helmuth Puffier Herbert Fruhauf Peter Gotzel Paul Guggenberger Gerhard Libensky Herbert Linke Manfred Kuhn Alfred Altenburger Giinter Seifert Wolfgang Brand Clemens Hellsberg Erich Schagerl
Second Violins Peter Wachter Hans Wolfgang Weihs Mario Beyer Gerald Schubert Claus Riedl Josef Kondor Ernst Bartolomey Ortwin Ottmaier Edwin Werner Heinz Hanke Alfons Egger Christian Zalodek Helmut Skalar Gerhard David Helmut Zehetner George Fritthum
Violas
Josef Staar Heinrich Roll Helmut Weis Klaus Peisteiner Peter Pecha Hans P. Ochsenhofer Georg Patay Paul Fiirst
Walter Blovsky Kurt Anders Erhard Litschauer Giinter Szkokan Gottfried Martin Erich Kaufmann Edward Kudlak Mario Karwan Manfred Honeck
Cellos
Robert Scheiwcin Wolfgang Hcrzcr Franz Bartolomey Dieter Giirtler Friedrich Dolezal Reinhard Repp Evvald Winklcr Ludwig Beinl Werner Resel Franz Kreuzer Reinhold Siegl Gerhard Kaufmann Jorgcn Fog
Basses
Herbert Manhart Alois Posch Martin Unger Wolfgang Giirtler Alfred Planyavsky Horst Munster Burkhard Krautler Wolfram Gorner Reinhard Diirrer Gerhard Formanek Milan Sagat Rudolf Dcgen Richard Hcintzingcr
Harp
Harald Kautzky
Flutes
Wolfgang Schulz
Mcinhart Nicdcrmayr
Dieter Flury
Louis Riviere
Herbert Reznicek
Rudolf Nekvasil
Oboes
Gerhard Turetschek Walter Lehmaycr Gottfried Boisits Giinter Lorenz Alexander Ohlbcrgcr
Clarinets Peter Schmidl Horst Hajek Ernest Ottensamcr Alfred Prinz Johann Hindler Norbert Taubl
Bassoons
Dietmar Zeman Michael Werba Stepan Tumovsky Fritz Faltl Rcinhard Ohlberger
Horns
Giinter Hogner Wolfgang Tombock, Jr. Friedrich Pfciffer Volker Altman Willibald Janezic Roland Horvath Roland Berger Franz Sollner Wolfang Tombock Johann Fischer
Trumpets Walter Singer Josef Pombcrgcr Hans Gansch Josef Hell Adolf Holler Hans Peter Schub
Trombones Rudolf Joscl Gabriel Madas Wolfgang Singer William McElheney Karl Jeitler
Tubas
Josef Hummel Ronald Pisarkiewicz
Percussion Horst Bcrgcr Roland Altmann Wolfgang Schuster Kurt Prihoda Franz Zamazal Rudolf Schmidingcr
In Ann Arbor, the Vienna Philharmonic now performs its seventh concert; Maestro Bernstein makes his sixth conducting appearance; and Christa Ludwig returns for a second time.
Coming Concerts -1987-88 Season
Royal Philharmonic OrchestraAndre Previn ............. Mon. Sept. 28
Berlioz: Beatrice el Benedict Overture; Debussy: La Mer; Elgar: Symphony No. 1
Norwegian Chamber OrchestraIona Brown .............. Thurs. Oct. 8
Chinese Children's Palace of Hangzhou ..................... Fri. Oct. 9
Leningrad State Symphony of the U.S.S.R................. Sun. Oct. 11
Alexander Dmitriev, Conductor; Pavel Kogan, Violinist
Erich Hawkins Dance Company ..................... Fri., Sat. Oct. 16, 17
Zurich Chamber OrchestraEdmond de Stoutz ............ Sun. Oct. 18
The Warsaw Ballet, "Giselle" .............................. Wed. Oct. 28
Western Opera Theater, "Don Pasquale" .................. Thurs. Oct. 29
Oslo Philharmonic OrchestraMariss Jansons...............Sun. Nov. 8
Vienna Strinc; Trio ........................................ Wed. Nov. 11
Elena Obraztsova, Mezzo-soprano ............................ Fri. Nov. 20
Vienna Choir Boys ......................................... Sun. Nov. 22
Handel's "Messiah'VDoNALD Bryant, Conductor ............ Fri.-Sun. Dec. 4-6
The Swingle Singers ....................................... Thurs. Dec. 10
Pittsburgh Ballet, Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" ........ Fri.-Sun. Dec. 11-13
Horacio Gutierrez, Pianist ................................... Wed. Jan. 13
Kodo (Japanese "taiko" drummers) ............................... Fri. Jan. 15
Empire Brass Quintet ....................................... Mon. Jan. 25
Empire Brass & Douglas Major, Organist .................... Tues. Jan. 26
New York City Opera National Company ................ Thurs. Feb. 4
Rossini's "The Barber of Seville"
Camerata Musica ............................................Mon. Feb. 8
Lynn Harrell, Cellist; Igor Kipnis, Harpsichordist .............. Sun. Feb. 14
Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company ..................... Mon. Feb. 29
English Chamber OrchestraJeffrey Tate................... Mon. Mar. 7
Frank Peter Zimmermann, Violinist
Hubbard Street Dance Company .................. Sat., Sun. Mar. 12, 13
Belgrade State Folk Ensemble ............................. Sun. Mar. 13
?"Christopher Parkening, Guitarist .............................. Fri. Mar. 18
Faculty Artists Concert (free admission) .................... Sun. Mar. 20
Andre Watts, Pianist ........................................... Sat. Apr. 2
Bonn Woodwind Quintet ..................................... Fri. Apr. 8
Steven Masi, Pianist Monte Carlo PhilharmonicLawrence Foster ............... Fri. Apr. 22
Katia & Marielle Labeque, Duo-pianists
95th Annual May Festival .......................... Wed.-Sat. Apr. 27-30
Complete Festival information available in December.
Pleasc note change of date since last spring's announcement.
Write or call for free brochure with all details and ticket information.
University Musical Society Board of Directors
JOHN W. REED, President LOIS U. STEGEMAN, Vice-President
JOHN D. PAUL, Treasurer DOUGLAS D. CRARY, Secretary
NORMAN G. HERBERT HOWARD S. HOLMES DAVID B. KENNEDY
RICHARD L. KENNEDY PATRICK B. LONG ANN S. SCHRIBER
HAROLD T. SHAPIRO HERBERT E. SLOAN JERRY A. WEISBACH
KENNETH C. FISCHER, Executive Director
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1270 Telephone: (313) 764-2538